Colorful Maples

Colorful Maples is the title of this new 30x15" acrylic on canvas. This piece was a donation to a local charity. While the leaves are bright and colorful in this painting, last night's powerful winds have stripped many of the trees of their fall leaves in the area. But it was a good color season, and I'm looking forward to the winter snow and upcoming holiday season. Happy Monday!

Falling Leaves

'Falling Leaves'

Today's piece, titled Falling Leaves, is a new 40x30" acrylic on canvas recently brought in to Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN. This fun piece features a rich brown maple forest with colorful red, orange, and gold leaves. The maples at the top are decked out in color, and their leaves are quietly falling across the painting towards the forest floor which is covered in leaves. The distant ridges match the colorful spectacle, and the rich windsor blue provides a complementary background to the whole piece. The color saturation is intense in this piece, pointing towards the most colorful time of the year, the autumn season, and the deep blue sky is a reminder of the snowy season that follows. Hope you get to enjoy all the seasons have to offer this year.

Autumn Lake Excursion

"Autumn Lake Excursion"  36"w x 12"h

Here is a new piece titled Autumn Lake Excursion which is 36"w x 12"h, acrylic on canvas. This one is part of a group of work recently delivered to Sivertson Gallery in Grand Marais, MN. Gold leaves on maples, rich blue waters and skies and random stones scattered about ... sounds like a recipe for a sweet landscape scene to me. :)

The Least of These

"The Least of These" 40"w x 16"h

Even though the northland is covered in a fresh blanket of snow, I just keep rolling on the autumn themed works. Since I love complementary colors, in this case blues and warm reds and golds, it just makes sense that I'm drawn to the this particular season. This piece features many different colored ridges seen through birch trees of varying widths. The background once again is the subject of the painting, drawing you in before you realize you're viewing the color through the birches. Outside today the birches are camouflaged by the white snow, and perhaps I'm a bit like the birch tree. I love spring, summer and fall, and tend to hide during the winter. :)

Quiet Solitude

"Quiet Solitude" Diptych, 72"w x 24"h

Here is piece that endeavors to capture the feeling of a quiet birch and maple forest during the last light of the day. The foreground gold and burnt sienna underbrush fade to a deep rich black and so does the cobalt sky in the distance. The maple leaves sparkle on the trees as the sun dances off them, and the birch hide in plain sight in the foreground. Some of my favorite comments have come from people who don't notice the birch trees right way as they focus on the background ... neither of which is the focus of this work, in a busy, noisy, hectic world, the quiet solitude of the birch forest beckons to be seen and experienced. Nuff said.

Distant Maples & November Lake

"Distant Maples" 12"w x 9"h

"November Lake" 6"w x 6"h

I was pleased to hear that a few pieces had sold at Your Art's Desire Gallery recently including the one above titled Distant Maples. The other piece on the left is titled November Lake and while they have completely different subjects, I thought I'd feature them together as the colors complement each other very well, and I thought they would look good together. I'll often pair a couple pieces together when thinking about a larger painting. I did this when I painted Somewhere North of Here which was a personal favorite of mine. That piece featured the moon on a lake viewed through the trees, just like these today. When I work small, I often wonder why as I love to work large, but I realize that working small is a great way to nail down what works on a large scale, and it gives people a chance to collect my work. Just like my work with it's many small brushstrokes making up the bigger picture, the small things are often more important than I realize.
Please contact Your Art's Desire for more information on today's painting.

Ever Reaching

"Ever Reaching" Lizzards Gallery, November 2013, 30"w x 24"h

Today's painting titled Ever Reaching is among several new works at Lizzards Gallery in Duluth, MN. This piece in particular I really enjoyed due to it's background. There are two cobalt blue ridges in the distance, and I had fun with adding light color value to the blues as I was finishing off the background. The blues complement the colorful maples in the foreground which have a brighter than usual color value to them. The subject of this piece is the three majestic white pines along the foreground ridge, but I just enjoyed every aspect of this painting, adding bright color and contrasting that with the deep foreground shadows cast by the trees. Please contact Lizzards Gallery for more information on today's piece.

Orange Forest Maples

"Orange Forest Maples" 18"w x 18"h

Yet another piece from my Fall Forests show, this one is titled Orange Forest Maples. The maple trees around northern Minnesota have the most interesting colored leaves in the Autumn season. You'll have bright yellow, gold, orange, red, brown, and every color in between right next to each other. Sometimes I wonder if the trees are trying to out color the one next to it. :) The maple tree in my back yard finally decided summer was over this week and turned bright yellow ... dropping it's leaves at the same time. It is the first week of November after all lol. Well, the painting featured here today is a playful take on maples at a river, with the stones in the water sparkling more subtly than some others in this series. There are distant colorful ridges, but the subject is the river, and the stones have been quite a challenge for me. I've been adding little amounts of blues to each, giving each stone a look and feel of it's own. I'll continue to explore this theme until I feel like I've captured what I'm endeavoring to say visually. One thing's for sure ... the maples in this piece want you to notice their orange leaves.

This painting featured today is part of my Fall Forests show which may viewed now through mid December, 2013 at First Lutheran Church in Duluth, MN.

Golden Forest Colors

"Golden Forest Colors" 18"w x 18"h

 This painting features maple trees in the foreground and the distance. I worked on the orange leaves on the maples a little more, layering the color to give the leaves that fluttering almost transparent quality that they have, especially when the sun shines on them. I also added some more color to the trunks, working on the dappled light that you would find as the sun shines through leaves. The colorful maples in the distance have the same value of color, but the object in this piece is clearly the five maples in the foreground. The cobalt blue sky complements the fall colors in this piece, the composition begs the viewer to look up ... something I often do as I walk through the forest, gazing up at the interesting branches and enjoying the sun working it's way through the thick leaves.

This painting featured today is part of my Fall Forests show which may viewed now through mid December, 2013 at First Lutheran Church in Duluth, MN. 

Colorful Forest Jewels

"Colorful Forest Jewels" 20"w x 16"h

How can you improve upon a subject such as a northern Minnesota maple tree in all it's fall color? Well ... you can't, really. But what you can do is add in elements that complement and or contrast with the vibrant subject matter. Elements such as other warm colored trees and shrubs, and complementary colored stones and waters. This piece featured today is titled Colorful Forest Jewels and features maples at a lakeshore reflecting their crimson red leaves in the water which fills the foreground. There's a sense of space behind the maples as the negative space between the trees is filled with a bright cobalt blue sky. Interest is added with the colorful fall shrubs and stones which divide the foreground and background. What I like most about this piece is, as usual, the background which leaves one wondering 'what's back there?' where does that lead? Asking questions and wondering is often what makes painting so fun, you never quite know how a painting will turn out, and you always wonder what you can accomplish next.

This painting featured today is part of my Fall Forests show which may viewed now through mid December, 2013 at First Lutheran Church in Duluth, MN.

Somewhere North of Here

"Somewhere North of Here" 48"w x 30"h Siiviis Gallery, Duluth, MN

Nice to be back to blogging after taking a mandatory self prescribed blog break. :) This is a new piece at Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN that I've titled Somewhere North of Here. When I finished this one, I felt as though this painting is one to be remembered. It was a concept I carried for a long time and it's a good feeling to finally realize the concept on the canvas.

Please contact Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN for more information on this piece.

Spring Shadows Triptych

"Spring Shadows Triptych" 12"w x 12"h

Here in northern Minnesota the trees are just beginning to bud and the grass has finally started popping out of the ground. The anticipation of the season has people doing all kinds of activities outside, walking through the garden centers, thinking about what they'd like to plant in their flower beds and gardens. I've been thinking along these lines as well ... glancing into the endless birch forests around my home in Duluth as I drive and go for walks. Dreaming about what I may paint next ... so many ideas, so little time. :) One thing I do know ... greens, golds, cobalts, burnt siennas and the occasional crimson will be making their way onto the canvas. I've just completed a large series of spring themed works and sent them off to the galleries. Now the studio is empty, waiting for the next canvases to come to life. I'm thinking I'll begin another major work .. perhaps 30"x40" or so .. we'll see. Happy Sunday! -Aaron

Please contact Siiviis Gallery in Duluth, MN for more information on today's painting.

Maple Forest Majesty

"Maple Forest Majesty", 18"w x 18"h, April 2013

Today's post features an autumn themed maple forest. The weather lately has been seriously messing with me. It was 50 and sunny a few weeks ago and now we're facing another foot of potential snow. It's supposed to snow the next three days straight here in Duluth, MN. Normally, we're warming up towards spring, yet we're in the midst of winter now. Go figure. So with the theater of changing seasons outside, the seasons are changing inside the studio. This painting is going to be hard to part with, I had soooooo much fun with the crimson and golds with this piece, adding layer upon layer of rich paint against the deep gray-blue sky background. The stones sparkle, along with the golds in the foreground that dance across the burnt sienna forest floor.

Perhaps I needed to paint this one to warm up my soul. The winter has been long, I used to be a painter and now find myself a professional snow shoveler. Haha. Please stop back soon, new works will be uploaded on a regular basis ... including several spring birch compositions that I've recently completed.

Let it snow ....

Please contact Stone's Throw Gallery in Bayfield, WI for more information on this piece.

Red Maple Triptych

"Red Maple Triptych" 18"w x 12"h

Today's painting features a convergence of ideas that I've been pondering some time. I've been sketching out compositions that incorporate maples and birches but haven't painted many of them. This painting is one of those ideas. I love the red, gold, and yellow combinations. The lake is visible in the background of this piece, but it really isn't the focal point, yet it offers a deep complementary blue background. the shadows are deep in this piece, I'm happy I took on the challenge of combining many elements that I love into one piece ... almost like a 'greatest hits' painting. :)

This painting is part of my Awesome Autumn show at Beaner's Central Coffeehouse which runs throughout the month of September 2012.

Sweet Maple Shadows Triptych

Acrylic on 3-4"wx4"h canvases totaling 12"wx4"h, $75
Available at Sivertson Gallery, Grand Marais, MN

I just love painting these small triptychs. If you've followed my work you know I love painting images across several canvas panels, it's probably something about the horizontal scale. Today's piece is a simple series of three maples on three panels, shimmering and sparkling and casting long shadows across the sun speckled foreground. Sweet.

Seven Maples

Acrylic on 20"w x 16"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$250.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

This painting was part of my Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery.

If you've been reading my thoughts on this blog in the recent past, you know a recurring theme I'm working on is what can be seen through the trees ... essentially focusing on the background. Or as us painters prefer to call it, the negative space of a painting. It's the part of the painting that often gets passed over to get to the subject of the painting. In this case, this painting is titled Seven Maples after the seven colorful maple trees that are ... you guessed it ... in the background. The foreground features seven birch trees. Now you see them, right? If you're like me, you viewed the colorful foliage of the maples against the bright blue sky, followed by the rich burnt sienna tree trunks and ground accented by golds. Then you noticed the foreground. Cool, huh? :) I've painted several canvases in this theme recently ... I know I'm on to something, and I'm happy with what I've accomplished so far, but I know there is something I'm searching for, a look or feel that I'd just love to see emerge on the canvas ... It'll happen, I just need to keep painting. :)

Childhood Memories

Acrylic on 20"w x 16"h canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$250.00 Please contact Blue Lake Gallery in Duluth to purchase.

This painting for my upcoming Tremendous Trees show at Blue Lake Gallery has a lot of memories attached to it. When I was growing up, there was a huge sugar maple tree in the front yard that had the brightest yellow leaves in the Autumn that I have ever seen. I remember coming home from school and playing around that tree, laying on the ground and looking up into the branches and bright yellow leaves while the blue sky sparkled through the leaves. Pictures have a way of drawing memories out of people, and that happens to me quite often where I have a vivid memory come to me while viewing artwork or photography. Sometimes when life gets difficult I want to go back to this place of innocence and safety where things were carefree and childhood memories were filled with bright yellow leaves, blue skies and warm sunshine.

Tiny Red Maple Leaf

Acrylic on 4"w x 4"h x 1.5"d canvas
Click on image above to enlarge.
$20.00, please email me to purchase.

Another piece from the Prøve Collective Gallery Tiny Art show.

I was remembering fondly my hikes with my family this past fall through Lester Park and Lincoln Park in Duluth, exploring quiet riverbeds filled with fall foliage. I took many photos, which have helped me immensely with the color and composition of recent paintings. All of these tiny paintings have me thinking of expanding on the themes and ideas each painting represents. I'm already placing several leaves together in my mind, envisioning them as they would appear in a larger composition. So many ideas ... so little time ...